MoPR and IRMA to sign MoU to capacity building of Panchayati Raj Institutions

The MoU envisions developing collaboration between MoPR and IRMA in bringing the 9 themes of LSDGs to the grassroots by linking with GPDP.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), Government of India and the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Anand tomorrow with an aim to give an impetus to the strengthening and capacity building of Panchayati Raj Institutions across the country, and to establish a framework under which MoPR and IRMA will collaborate in the area of Gram Panchayat Development Planning for Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

The MoU envisages facilitating closer collaboration and provide a mechanism by which MoPR and IRMA would work together for finding gaps and possible solutions to overcome gaps in preparation of model Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) linkages with LSDGs. The MoU envisions developing collaboration between MoPR and IRMA in bringing the 9 themes of LSDGs to the grassroots by linking with GPDP.

The MoU seeks to leverage the best of Village Fieldwork Segment (VFS), which actively involves the IRMA students in a wide range of rural management activities and as a result widens the scope of their learning and exposure to the rural economy, society, polity and concerns of rural communities. The Village Fieldwork component introduces the participants to the rural realities, makes them a part of the said realities and helps them in developing their detailed Village Development Reports (VDR). As per MoU, IRMA will provide inputs to MoPR based on field experience gathered by their students/ interns as and when required for the policy interventions in LSDGs and other PRI-related matters.

On the occasion of the MoU Signing Ceremony at IRMA in Gujarat, Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj will deliver keynote address, and Smt. Rekha Yadav, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj will share overview of Localization of SDGs on convergence with different stakeholders. Dr. Umakant Dash, Director, IRMA will speak on the collaboration between MoPR and IRMA.

During the Signing Ceremony of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) and Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), IRMA’s strategy of integrating PGDM students in Gram Panchayats for providing handholding support to Young Fellows of MoPR and preparation of Thematic GPDP will be presented by Prof. Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, Chair, Village Fieldwork Segment, IRMA and Prof. Aashish Argade, Chair, Internship and Placements, IRMA. Prof. Vivek Pandey and Prof. Satyendra C Pandey will make presentation on Reflections on the continuous commitment of IRMA to create programmes that engage rural communities, to create sustainable models to transform economy and livelihoods scenario of India. Interaction with the PGDM Students and Faculty Members to get their insight about the engagement particularly focussing on the LSDGs and GPDP will also be organized on this occasion.

(With Inputs from PIB)